Superdollar
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A superdollar is an almost perfect counterfeit of United States banknote. They are thought to be printed and distributed by the North Korean government for two reasons: as a source of income and to undermine the US economy.
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The notes
The notes are of a very high quality. The US government calls them "highly deceptive". They are made with the highest quality ink and paper, with the same flecks in the paper as the real thing. Even experts need to study them for a long time before they notice that they are forgeries.
Officially they are known as the C-14342-family, after the series numbers they use.
The US government had discovered in the late 1980s that the North Korean government had obtained an advanced intaglio printing press, similar to the kind the US government uses. The notes are of such quality that experts say they could only have been printed on the Intaglio press.
Several North Korean defectors have confirmed the operation. They say the factory where the notes are printed is located in the city of Pyeongseong. One defector had taken the notes to experts in the South Korean intelligence agency, who didn't believe that they were fakes.
On Friday, October 30 1998, a petty criminal named Alan Jones was exchanging the forgeries for real notes in an foreign exchange bureau. The police wouldn't have known about them if it weren't for a tip-off. When the police examined the forgeries, they were the best they had ever seen. They then sent some men under cover. They gained the trust of Alan Jones, who told them extensively of the operation.
Distribution Method
The dollars are spread in two ways:
North Korean diplomats almost all travel through Moscow on their way to other destinations. At the North Korean embassy they receive dollars for their expenses. The forgeries are intermingled with real dollars in about a 1 to 1 ratio. Most of the diplomats themselves do not know that they are being given fakes.
Secondly there is a very lucrative business with the British underworld. The Colonel in Chief of the Official IRA named Sean Garland was followed and seen travelling to Moscow and visiting the North Korean embassy along with some ex-KGB officers. Sean Garland would then, with the help of some associate couriers, move this money to Dublin and then onto Birmingham where the notes would be exchanged for pounds or other dollars.
Alternate meaning
The term 'superdollar' is also used to refer to a period of extreme U.S. dollar strength relative to other currencies, particularly in the 1980s. This period ended when the G-7 countries, concerned about the U.S. trade deficit and the resulting protectionism, agreed to cooperate in the devaluation of the dollar in the Plaza Accord.
See also
External links
- BBC article: what is a superdollar? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3819345.stm)
- BBC article: Leader of 'Official IRA' in forgery plot (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/3822005.stm)
- Transcript of BBC TV Show, Panorama (http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/programmes/panorama/transcripts/superdollar.txt)